Author's Note: Okay, this is my own post-Beginning fic series. It follows the
book series until the very end with some mild adjustments: It ends with the
death of Rachel, as we never get into what happened after the Yeerks were defeated
and Earth was liberated. From here, we immeaditley go five years into the future
(my own version, again, as nothing that the book says happened after Rachel
died, actually happened in my universe). Here is the basic info you need to
know before entering the story (remember, since all the Animorphs were 16 at
the time, they're 21 now):
Jake has become a military general for the U.S. Army (and, like all the Animorphs, a global hero). He's currently in charge of a large-scale operation to put down a possiable takeover attempt involving a strange group known as Slaves of Purity. More on them later.
Cassie has become seperated from Jake. She's a public figure-head in the quest for humane treatment of animals, and the spokeswoman of the Humans for Humane Treatment Foundation (also called the HHT Foundation). She constantly frequents talk shows and the like with her message, still a global icon five years after the fact. Some close to her consider her to be spoiled by the fame.
Tobias disapered following Rachel's death. It is unknown whether he is dead or alive.
Marco is currently an English major in his third year of college at New York University. He lives near his parents, as his father is working on a project in New York. His goal is to write comedy, and wanting a normal life, has done his best to stay out of the public's eye.
Ax returned to the Andalite home world, and he has had contact with Jake. Ax became a Prince and leads his own crew as they fight to rid the universe of the Yeerks.
Since I don't have individual books, I'm going to mark each chapter as part of a story, which someone will narrerate, changing each time. We begin with a Prologue, with a bit of info from each character. I will mark as such who is narrating which part. Now, on with the story!
Prologue
Jake
I look around me, and all I ever see anymore is failure.
Failure to my cousin.
Failure to Cassie.
Failure to myself.
Oh sure, we won. But at what price?
Cassie was so devestated by Rachel's death, she lost herself in fame. Tobias dissapered, who knows where he is. The only ones who even seem to be holding up are Marco and Ax- and I lost contact with both quite a while ago, just because I was tired of seeing their happy faces.
And yet here I stand, an empty man, doing an empty job. Training recqruits. Leading unimportant battles. None of it matters when you've gone through what I've gone through. And there haven't even been that many battles to fight- an intergalatic attack did wonders for global relations.
Still, this new series of battles does seem semi-important. This group that calls themselves Slaves of Purity. We know nothing about them, except that they somehow have completley taken over a small island off the coast of Cuba, near Flordia, and made this their center of command. Radar is scrambled, and anyone we try and get there seems to bounce off a force field. Somehow, they have advanced ailen techonology, and all we can see of them from the distance of the force field are three werid, cone-shaped buildings.
We recieved a message- the message was delivered by a silouhtee of a human head, completley darkened, with a robotic voice. It told us that Purity was arriving, and we would all be wiped out.
Obviously, since ailen techonology happens to be more my field than anyone else in the U.S. Army's, I was called in to figure out a way to stop this group. However, to do it I may need to do something I never thought I would do........reunite the Animorphs.
Cassie
I just can't deal with it.
So I don't.
Thinking about it causes the pain to start. And I'm done with pain.
After Rachel's death and the end of the war, Jake and I tried to continue on with some sort of a relationship. We tried, but we failed.
There was just too much pain there. The entire war with the Yeerks, not just Rachel's death. And being together made that pain come to the surface. We were so war-hardened, we had nothing left to offer each other, except more pain. So we split, as Jake took a government job, and I wandered about, without a purpose. However, I found it: fame. Fame masked the pain I felt, and it was the perfect way to still spread my message about inhumane treatment of animals.
I don't understand people who say I've changed. Of course I've changed! If you've been through what I've gone through, you would have changed too! I need the fame. It's the only thing that masks the pain. And it's not like I go out there and tell people to kill their pets! I'm spreading a worthwhile message that I still do, despite rumors to the contrary, care about, so who cares if I'm using it to maintain my fame? I don't! As far as I'm concrened, life has never been better.
Marco
It's funny how things work out sometimes.
I'm the one who hated the entire war the most. And yet, five years after the fact, I'm the happy one.
I'm three years into college now at NYU. I'm going to be a writer. That's right, you'll see the comedic stylings of the former Animorph on the little screen AND the big screen soon enough.
I tried to maintain contact with Jake and Cassie, but they were both far too depressed and after awhile, we just stopped calling each other- and that was fine by me. I'd rather remember them as they were, than see these two empty shells of their former selfs.
Really, I look on the bright side, as always. The Yeerks are gone. I have my parents back and together for the first time in my life. They're not that far away from where I live, in fact, and I love having them around again. Especially my mom. I love spending time with her.
The only one I've managed to keep contact with is Ax. Ax is happy, too- he's doing the Animorph name proud as he leads his Andalites against the Yeerks. Good, maybe someday they'll be gone for good.
Someday soon, though, I think I'm going to call Jake and Cassie. At least see how they're doing, how they've been holding up.
Or maybe not.
We'll see, I guess.
We'll see.